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Enterprise Thin Client Market Posts Uneven Growth: IDC

Thin clients without operating systems now hold 32 percent share among the thin client segment, an increase of 22 percent from the previous quarter.

Worldwide thin client and terminal client device shipments totaled 1.38 million units in the third quarter of 2013, an increase of 8.5 percent from the previous quarter, but 2.8 percent lower than forecast for the quarter, according to IT research firm IDC.

The company still expects shipments for the full year to be 5.31 million units, representing 0.2 percent year-over-year growth, while the forecast for 2014 is for shipments to reach 5.86 million units, representing 10.5 percent year-over-year growth.

By 2017, these devices are expected to reach 8.01 million units shipped worldwide. Thin clients continue to make up the vast majority (96 percent) of enterprise client devices and saw an increase of 11 percent from the previous quarter. In contrast, terminal clients declined by 30 percent.

Thin clients without operating systems (zero clients) now hold 32 percent share among the thin client segment, which is an increase of 22 percent from the previous quarter. Windows Embedded OS thin clients are the largest, at 40 percent share, according to the report.

Further reading

In the third quarter, the United States was eclipsed by Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan)(APeJ) as the largest region for enterprise client devices.

The region now holds 28.5 percent share of the worldwide market, with the U.S. trailing closely behind with 27 percent share. The report noted the reason for this growth in APeJ came from China, which grew 32 percent from the previous quarter.

The standalone form factor constitutes the largest segment of the overall market, at 90 percent share. For the mobile form factor, 60 percent of the worldwide share is concentrated in Japan. Thin clients with LCD are dominant in APeJ, the United States and Western Europe.

"IDC believes that cost reduction as well as the easier endpoint management that desktop virtualization provides will continue to drive thin client growth, with VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) replacing old PCs," Jennifer Song, research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Trackers, said in a statement." We also expect to see more mobile virtualization applications. For the remainder of the year, although companies see value in VDI, pilot programs are beginning to roll out slowly. In 2014, VDI adoption should accelerate among enterprise firms."

Technology giant HP continued to rank first in the third quarter of 2013 with 28 percent worldwide market share, ranking first in four out of eight regions this quarter.

While Dell held the No. 2 position with 22.7 percent worldwide market share in the third quarter of 2013, it remains the No. 1 vendor in the United States with 37.1 percent market share, followed by NComputing, Centerm and Igel.